session he chaired today and how it might affect susan rice's chances for becoming secretary of state. state of play. palestinians rallying in cities across the west bank in anticipation of today's u.n. vote this afternoon. and supermarket sweep, biden style. >> i got my own. my wife who never let me have one before. she doesn't trust me. >> the vice president loads up on his holiday shopping during opening day at washington's first costco. >> walking through this store just get foot. calling for guidance. >> good day. i'm andrea mitchell live in washington right now at the white house, the political power lunch of 2012. president obama and mitt romney meeting for the frts time privately since the campaign after having been together serve times overall, including three debates. ruth marcus, and kristin welker.

kristin what are they saying about the private lunch? not much, i guess? >> reporter: not a lot, andrea. they're tamping down expectations. jay carney saying there's no formal agenda to this lunch. of course president obama, during his victory speech in chicago, said he wanted to sit down, talk to mitt romney about his views how to move the country forward. you have to assume that would include a robust discussion of the fiscal cliff, given that is what lawmakers are talking about now. mitt romney just arrived here. we're not expecting anything huge to come out of this meeting. no appointment. for example, to the cabinet. but the president certainly, i think, hoping to engage in a serious conversation. this, as you point out, will be just the seventh time that these two have sat down after what was really a bruising fight during the election. this is really about sort of striking a tone of bipartisanship, helping these two former rivals to bury the hatchet but helping, i think the

country to move forward, especially as we get closer to that fiscal cliff deadline. >> and ruth is here at the table. one of the issues could be the sort of backdrop the post-election comment by all sides not only mitt romney but also by stewart stevenson, op-ed his adviser. there was a time not long ago when the problems of the democratic party revolved arounding too liberal and dependent on minorities. obama turned those problems in advantages and rode that strategy to victory but he was a charismatic african-american president with a billion dollars, no primary and media that felt morally conflicted about being critical. how easy is that to replicate? stevens saying he got elected because he had a lot of money, easy press and because he was black? >> i thought there were a lot of points in that op-ed in "the washington post," by the way, that were a little bit

alternative universe, including mitt romney's capacities as a candidate, and i think some of the points that he was trying to make about why obama got elected. i think one thing he said that i thought was appropriately gracious is winning campaign's the good camp -- the one that ran a good campaign and that's what he's learned. one could guess, i think, that the stewart stevens op-ed will probably not come up during the lunch. these are the not guys who had a terrific history of love and affection between each other. this is be on your best behavior and don't say anything you don't want to see in print someplace in print. >> mitt romney is not a defeated republican candidate who has a big washington job, a role in the senate, or big influence over what his party does on the fiscal cliff or almost anything else. kristin, i wanted to ask you about cabinet choices because

susan rice is at u.n. in her role as u.n. ambassador leading the u.s. argument on the palestinian vote on symbolic, nonmembership in the general assembly. but there were hearings again on the hill. we'll talk to joe lieberman in a moment. what is state of play whether the president is sticking with her in he did quite the show of support during the cabinet meeting yesterday at a photo op. >> reporter: he has publicly maintained that show of support. officials say that despite the fact that susan rice continues to come under fire from a number of lawmakers, including those woman she met this week say they have more questions after having met with her, senior officials tell me the president is not turning away from her, that he is still holding her up as a high possibility as one of his choices for secretary of state. of course the meetings go on the investigation goes on. senior officials tell me the president is standing by her,

not only publicly but privately. >> ruth there have been issued raised whether she was being attacked, criticized because she's a woman, african-american, whether that in fact would make it harder for the republicans to gang up on her if there were a real full-throated confirmation battle. i asked kelly ayotte yesterday, she said, no, it was on the substance. have we had others who have gone on sunday television talk shows, made mistakes and not punished as severely as susan rice? >> i think there is a double standard, not necessarily with punishment for the talk shows, because i don't think this is about comments that were basically right that she made on sunday talk shows. i think this is about a lot of other things including a personality that even susan rice's friends say can be abrasive, sharp elbowed. all sorts of things that i think it's easier for men to get away with even men in diplomatic jobs, than for women. and i think women are in an odd role those days.

women in the senate, i'm going to be writing about this for a column in tomorrow's paper, the women in the senate talk about how women are terrific at being collegial and getting things done and learning how to cooperate. if you're a woman like susan rice who is not necessarily in that kind of female nurturer collegial role but sort of elbows out, tough player, i think you actually get dinged more than a man does with the same personality. >> this is some of the same issues that used to be raised about hillary clinton when she was first lady, not when she was senator because she came up and almost seen but not heard for the first year or so she was a new york senator because she wanted to be known as a play, collegial play, team player not as former white house star coming down to the senate. >> exactly. look at the three women who have been secretaries of state, senator clinton, secretary of state clinton, secretary albright and possibly the first secretary rice, condoleezza

rice, they were sort of more -- less in that sort of aggressive, assertive, rile up the guys mode. very good at reaching out to people, schmoozing, making relationships. i think perhaps not as first lady but as senator and secretary, secretary clinton has been terrific at that. and that may be a piece of what susan rice, we'll have to have a hard time keeping our rices straight here, that may be a piece of what she's paying. >> indeed. look forward to that column tomorrow. >> i'm looking forward to finishing it. >> thanks for being here first. and cykristin welker, thank you george herbert walker bush, bush 41's office confirmed the former president has been hospitalized in houston for a week suffering from complications related to bronchitis sway longstanding cough. president bush has been in and out of hospital for several weeks. they say it's not pneumonia,

it's not life threatening, and the 88-year-old is expected to be released within the next 72 hours, which is good news indeed. the u.n. vote today to grant palestinians unofficial membership that the general assembly's expected to pass overwhelmingly this afternoon poenl the united states and israel will be voting no. great britain is planning to abstain. nbc's martin fletcher join me, after covering celebrations that began early in ramallah. quite a lot of celebrating among the palestinians. we should stress this is symbolic. martin it will give them access, potentially to the international criminal court of justice, action against israel they've long been wanting to take. doesn't move them toward statehood. the u.s. says this is a step back, not a step forward. from the palestinian perspective, this is long awaited. and achieves a lot of what they've been trying to do on the world stage. >> reporter: what it does, it's a step forward for them, it's a major step forward. but the people i was speaking to

in ramallah, palestinians say it's not a big deal. it's not going to change anything on the ground. nevertheless it is a major step forward and something the palestinian leader president has been trying to do for a year he was beaten, if you like, almost into not taking this step last year by the united states and by israel and this year they implored him, again, not to do this, because the israeli/american view is that, by going to the united nations general assembly, calling for a vote, getting recognized ace nonmember state, he's -- he's skirting the peace process. of course he says there is no peace process. but he certainly upsetting thes and the americans a great deal by doing this. as you say for the palestinians, it is a major step forward in the international -- on the international stage but appears to be at this moment more symbolic unless they join other u.n. agencies and take action

ge against israel. >> chuck schumer starting the process to start an amendment on the defense appropriations act which would take away the palestinians' money -- the palestinians on the west bank, not hamas, but the west bank have had the benefit of some american economic aid because of improvements that their prime minister fayed has achieved and cracked down on corruption, other reforms in the last couple of years, so they do risk that. i'm not sure it would go through but it is one of those things that can rocket through the u.s. congress. >> reporter: there is that. there is that threat of sanctions if they do it. israel saying they're going to withhold funds from the taxation money they collect for the palestinians. yeah. there's all of the threats to abbas. but he insists on going forward because, he says, there's no other way for the palestinians to achieve this, negotiations have not achieved anything. there's another important point to mention, andrea, looking at what hamas achieved with mini

war against israel, the diplomatic and political breakthrough they achieved, not a military success, but politically and diplomatically, hamas achieved a great deal of recognition through their fight against israel. abbas has always championed the nonviolent cause, abbas haualwa been against violence. this is an achievement for the palestinians in a nonviolent way. hamas achieved something through violence. abbas is saying the nonviolent way is making great gains for us, too, an important message. >> joining me, the president of the jerusalem fund and palestine center. thanks for being with us. what is the relationship now between hamas and gaza, and the west bank on this sniissue? it is a moment of historical importance from palestinian perspective. >> in the pass hamas has not

supported the palestine u.n. bid. this week they did throw their support behind it. i think that's interesting. palestinians today, more than ever before, are united under a common realization that the peace process that's been mediated by the united states has yielded nothing for palestinians. the peace process has a track record of 20 years since the madrid conference in 1991. palestinians have only seen the continued colonization of their territory with the number of israeli settlers over that 20-year period tripling. there's a dramatic power imbalance between israelis and palestinian. the israelis are the only party that has the capacity to change the landscape by building settlements. palestinians don't. so in the absence of even-handed american mediation, which we haven't seen, obviously, the palestinians have to find other ways to create leverage against the israelis or the israelis are going to continue to think that perpetual occupation is a viable policy option. unfortunately that's what the past 20 years of u.s. mediated

negotiation has let us do. >> let me push back to the point that you had in 1999 and 2000 the best effort, and last effort of bill clinton, camp david meeting and from his perspective, what he's written about since and spoken about since, yasser arafat did not come prepared to make a deal, yasser arafat waiting for a sign-off from the various arab leaders, he didn't get that, and he didn't have the courage to lead, and that was the moment. there have been other moments, missed opportunities, even often said, under arafat he never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity, and you also have the failures of the two palestinian factions to come together. so israel can argue, despite their land grabs, which you have stated and which most people in the world would acknowledge that israel can say we didn't have anyone to negotiate with because we has hamas, fatah, two factions that could not come

together. >> at the end of the day, this is about land. and as i said, the israelis are the only party that's able to, through their capacity, through their use of force to change the landscape. and so, you know, we could talk about the peace process and different stances over time. the reality is, if the israelis believed in a two-state solution, the outcome of which is a viable contiguous palestinian state on 22% of the territory, they would not be continuing to take more and more of that territory. that posture that colonial posture, sends a message to palestinians israelis are not interested in a palestinian state living side by side with them. >> talk to me about what you perceive to be the failures of the president in the first term and what you hope for in the second term. >> i think we have to understand that this president is just like all presidents before him, a president that is abound by domestic interests and domestic constraints here in the united

states. and i think, as we mentioned in the introduction to the segment, the congress is ready to put forward legislation that's going to reflectively punish the palestinians for their efforts today. that's not going to change regardless to who the president is. this is a very pro-israel country because of domestic politics. but that being understood, if the united states is unable to evenhandedly mediate the conflict they should stand out of the way of the international community. >> briefly what do you get out of this vote today? it's symbolic. what is the advantage? >> that's the really important question. as we saw last week, hamas' strategy was on display. this is the strategy of the camp in the west bank, the plo, their strategy on display. a third camp among palestinians, palestinian civil society, which has called for boycott, divestment and sanctions.

all want to create pressure on israelis to end the on passion. how this plays out will determine which strategy moving forward palestinians will continue to choose. it's very important to incentivize palestinians in a diction that will lead to their liberation, not the other way around. >> always a pleasure. thank you for joining us today. and up next -- senator homeland security chair joe lieberman out of his closed door meetings on the attacks in benghazi. hillary clinton reveals a u.s. blueprint for reaching an aids-free generation. >> the blueprint says we have to go where the virus is. targeting the populations at the greatest risk of contracting hiv including people who inject drugs, sex workers and those trafficked into prostitution, and men who have sex with men. when discrimination, stigma and

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the senate homeland security committee investigating the security and intelligence failures of the u.s. consulate in benghazi that have been of course part of the continuing controversy over susan rice's possible nomination to be secretary of state. joining me now the chairman of the homeland security committee, joe lieberman. thanks so much, senatoring for joining us. you had four hour session with all of the major players from all of the agencies. so i know you've heard all of the intelligence. what are your biggest concerns about the failures leading up to benghazi? >> yeah, this is one of a continuing sirirys of briefings

the homeland committee had. the more you do this, the more you understand. we're focused on -- i'm focused on two parts of what happened. did the state department do enough to protect american personnel in benghazi, based on the intelligence of a growing terrorist threat there before the attack or should it have closed our mission there because they were unable to protect them? secondly, why wasn't the defense department able to get assistance to our american personnel on the ground once the attack started? probably would have been impossible to save the life of ambassador stevens and the other man with him who died as a result of the fire that the terrorists set, but seven hours later, two s.e.a.l.s were killed and a timely arrival of american military personnel i think could have saved their lives. and to me, this is really

another example of the way in which our military's being stretched. basically we didn't have enough assets either in the waters off of libya or near enough by that help could have gotten there to save the lives of a couple of brave americans. so to me those are the big questions. on yubsobviously a lot of inter in what happened after the attack and what ambassador rice said. that's nott inconsequential but not one of the great lessons to be learned from the tragic event. >> what you know so far, the investigation is proceeding but do you think the state department ignored the only warnings but incidents and that mission should have been closed? >> i haven't reached a conclusion yet. i can tell you, having, one, looked at a lot -- all of the classified intelligence, there was a growing crescendo of

evidence that eastern libya, benghazi was becoming a kind of outlawed territory, al qaeda-related groups, radical militias there, and well-known that the place was just teaming with weapons that had been seized from the gadhafi government. it was a very dangerous brew. and there was also incidentally unclassified, open source of information. there had been a previous attack, a bomb exploded outside our benghazi mission, the british mission had been attacked, red cross mission. the british government closed its mission in benghazi. i haven't reached a conclusion but i worry that there was a lot of evidence that was not adequately responded to. >> do you think what susan rice said after the fact should be enough to prevent her from being

nominated and successfully confirm ford secretary of state? >> i don't. i mean, i'm -- the question of who president obama nominates for secretary of state is obviously up to the president. that's a right he's earned by his re-election. but i have been over the intelligence, the talking points that were given to ambassador rice. i have read over her statements on television that sunday morning over and over again, i met with her, and the acting director of the c. ia, it seems to me that everything she said on those many appearances that sunday morning were within the talking points that she had been given by the intelligence community. look, did one point or another she leave an adjective out or should have put in or been certain about something, she wishes now she had been, of

course. but i think if anybody in washington, particularly congress, ought to have a sense of mercy about those kinds of errors because they were not in my opinion, intentional attempts to deceive the american people. she said, basically, what the intelligence community told her was the truth as they tentatively understood it on the day that she went on national television. >> senator, i know you're leaving the senate. are you open to being in a foreign policy team or in the obama cabinet? are you being vetted? >> no, i'm completely unvetted at this time. so, no, that's not my plan. look, i always say that -- i really feel this -- anytime a president calls anybody, and i'm saying it for myself to serve our country, any president, that you've got to give it serious consideration, particularly i've spent my life in public service.

but that's not my plan. and i'm not waiting by the telephone. >> i wanted to ask you about the palestinian vote because the u.n. vote today is overwhelmingly in favor of nonmember status at general assembly for the palestinians. they've been told by the u.s. repeatedly this is a step backwards but their argument they've been waiting for 20 years or long somewhere that the negotiations are going nowhere. what is your take on this, because chuck schumer is talking about a defense appropriations amendment which would take money away from the west bank if they proceed. >> yeah, i mean the vote in the united nations, i would say, is not surprising but still disappointing because, really, nothing is achieved by it. the only way to create progress toward the two-state solution, which i support and most people certainly here in congress support, jewish state of israel living in peace next to a palestinian state, both

independent, that's only going to be accomplished as a result of the direct negotiations, direct negotiations between israel and the palestinians and therefore, i know there was a certain amount of pressure on the leadership of the palestinian authority to take this resolution to the united nations, particularly after what happened in gaza and hamas, which is really the opposition on some sense the enemy, and inside palestinian politics of the fatah palestinian authority leadership, pressure on president abbas of the palestinian authority to do something significant or that at least was pro active but really in, the end the best thing president abbas could do is agree to come back to the negotiating table without any preconditions, with the israelis, and i appreciate the position that the obama

administration has taken in this in trying to to convince the palestinian authority not to ask for this vote at u.n. it undercuts trust and it doesn't help the palestinian cause on the ground, i don't believe, because ultimately, the palestinian people are not going to attain statehood through the united nations. they're going to attain sta statehood as a result of negotiations with the israeli government. >> senator lieberman, thank you very inch. >> thank you. good day. >> you, too. and coming up next, the verdict on the inquiry into the british hacking scandal next on "andrea mitchell reports." twins. i didn't see them coming. i have obligations. cute obligations, but obligations. i need to rethink the core of my portfolio. what i really need is sleep. introducing the ishares core, building blocks for the heart of your portfolio. find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs.

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gives you a low $18.50 monthly plan premium... and select generic hypertension drugs available for only a penny... so you can focus on what really matters. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. . after a year of investigations, phone hacking a panel recommending new restrictions that the prime minister says go too far.

we've heard investigating into what happened with murdoch and tabloids, owners of tabloids. what is the result? why are restrictions too much for david cameron to take? >> this is a cause of result, one of four of the reports, andrea. and what it basically recommends is that the british newspapers have to be regulated by independent body. they can't, if you like, self-regulate themselves anymore. this is being caused in controversy because it's going to have be set up by the government. people are worrying that what this effectively means is state intervention in what should be a free media. it is already causing serious problems for the british government. today deputy prime minister and the prime minister, david cameron, who come from different parties made separate statements in the house. he's suggesting he may not go with some of the recommendations where the junior party, the liberal democrats, are saying they want them. we've been digging down in the

last few hours into the report, andrea, and there are very interesting things about murdoch's operation, news corporation, what it effectively says about the phone hacking scandal, either murdoch, james murdoch, news corporation, knew about what was going on with phone hacking about the scandal emerging, which case they should have done something about what effectively was allegedly a criminal operation within one of their companies, or they didn't, the judge says, in which case there was a serious failure of corporate governance. those words are going to get a lot of attention in the united states about us news corporatio >> surely will because of its major role here in the media. next, democratic senator chris coons from the foreign relation committee on the storm brewing over susan rice and congo, the latest. timothy geithner tries to corral congress around the president's tax plan.

no corral for these two, razzie the zebra with casper the pony. running wild on staten island. the owner left the gate to the pen open. they were nabbed an hour later. the onwner blames it on the pon, casper, and it was casper's third escape.

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it's embarrassing! we can see you carl. we can totally see you. come on you're better than this...all that prowling around. yeah, you're the king of the jungle. have you thought about going vegan carl? hahaha!! you know folks who save hundreds of dollars by switching to geico sure are happy. how happy are they jimmy? happier than antelope with night-vision goggles. nice! get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. white house officials say today the president has not made final decisions on his foreign policy team but he went oust his way at a cabinet meeting to give a shout out to susan rice. >> susan rice is extraordinary. couldn't be prouder of the job that she's done. >> delaware senator chris coons a member of the foreign relations committee has to decide who will be the next secretary of state and join me from capitol hill. thank you very much. what do you think of the criticism among republican colleagues of susan rice for her

comments after benghazi? do you think that that is sufficient to prevent her from being nominated and confirmed? >> andrea, that will be a mat that we have to take up in the senate and see. i think the president, who has not nominated a candidate to be the next secretary of state is entitled to his own nominee, if they are qualified. susan rice is certainly more than qualified. she's led admirably, represented us at the united nations during a difficult period when she has worked tirelessly and effectively to assemble an international coalition to impose new sanctions against iran, to lead the referendum process that created a new nation in south sudan. shoo she's been an effectived acrow vindicate advocate. she deserves a full and fair hearing. i don't think the fact she went on sunday morning talk shows and repeated talking points given to her by the intelligence community should stand in the way of her confirmation in the u.s. senate.

>> is the real issue security for our missions overseas? >> if there were the real issue the fact there's an ongoing investigation looking at security of our missions overseas would be the principal focus rather than individual character assassination, i think, baseless attacks on susan rice and her conduct as best i can tell from everything i have seen and heard, she was simply pre preet repeating talking points prepared for her by the intelligence community. there are things we should be looking at making sure we have the resource, personnel, budget to provide for security at u.s. embassies and consulates. lots of country around the world where security's real issue, from the democratic republic of the conga, egypt, syria. at a time of tightening budgets, i do in that's a worthy question. are we doing enough to keep our diplomats safe? >> i wanted to ask you about the

co c congo, you've been concerned about the rebels. reportedly withdrawing from eastern congo. what more should the united states be doing to put pressure on this. >> assistant secretary of state johnny carson returning today from a meeting with regional leaders and vie taken the step of joining with several of my colleagues, senators durbin and boessman and others introducing today an amendment to the defense authorization act that would impose sanctions on individuals, leaders and countries that provide material support to m23. watchers, listenering might wonder why this is an important matter. a huge conflict in eastern c no go that took 5 million lives in last decade and it's vital we take strong steps in supporting the u.n. security council resolution that calls for m23 to withdraw from goma and negotiate a path forward that reduces

tensions and violence in the critical part of the eastern congo. >> senator, thank you very much. thank you for your attention to a subject that doesn't get enough attention in washington. republican leaders have put revenues on the table but waiting on president obama to give and offer something up on ballooning federal retirement programs like medicare. the author of "tap dancing to work," a collection she's updated and expanded on the best buffett articles fortune published between 1966 and 2012. a pleasure to have you here today. thank you very much. congratulations on the book. >> thank you. wonderful to be here. nice to talk to you at some other time than breakfast. >> exactly. often too early at breakfast. >> that's right. >> i wanted to ask you about the current arguments about the fiscal cliff. and your perspective as senior editor who has seen so many of these negotiations in the past. mitch mcconnell's office issued

a state, it's a negative one indeed. he says, in part that today they took -- they meaning the white house -- took a step backward moving away from consensus significantly closer to the cliff delaying again the real balanced solution that this crisis requires. of course we'll see a lot of posturing from both sides. are you persuaded that the administration needs to, and is prepared to do enough, on the medicare side, on the entitlement side, as well as getting these revenues, you know, from the republicans, concessions that speaker boehner says are on the table? >> well, i think the question of what's enough is a big question. but i have felt that both sides were going to be turning some toward the middle and the congress was going to catch up with the citizenry on all of this. i mean i am not -- i cannot possibly be described as a deeply informed about the fiscal cliff because i've been working

on the book rather than other things. i feel i'm an interested citizen who does feel that people are ahead of congress and it's very difficult for me to believe that congress isn't going to catch up. it probably is going to be messy. but i think if we don't avoid the fiscal cliff, we might go over in small ways and that might be all right. but i do believe we're going to get through this crisis somehow because it just can't be allowed to happen. >> one of the things that your friend and colleague warren buffett proposed, which is getting traction here, a minimum tax on the superrich. >> right. >> which would get around the whole fact that they pay, he said he paid something like 16%, we know mitt romney was in the 14% area, because of capital gains, other ways of getting legal ways of course of taking advantage of the tax code if you're not salaried. >> right. >> that is a -- one measure.

what do you think the importance is from your deep knowledge of the business community of having some certainty going forward on the tax side? >> i'm inclined to think that that is overstated and that a reasonable amount of certainty will do fine for the business community. obviously like to have things decided. but i -- i believe many people out there like me believe that warren is right in thinking that there must be some kind of certainty that higher income people will be paying tax because the payroll tax, which is never ever mentioned as a -- as a prominent factor in all of this, is just there. you don't get away from the payroll tax whereas everybody else is getting away from heavy payment of taxes by one means or another. so i certainly agree with him on

that. and i believe the president has a high degree of resolve about that, too. so i'm all for that. >> the book is "tap dancing to work warren buffett on practically everything" the oracle of omaha. we appreciate you're coming on today. look forward to seeing you soon. >> thank you for having me. two nfl players leaving lucative contracts behind in search of something higher, their story next on "andrea mitchell reports." a hybrid? most are just no fun to drive. now, here's one that will make you feel alive. meet the five-passenger ford c-max hybrid. c-max says ha. c-max says wheeee. which is what you get, don't you see? cause c-max has lots more horsepower than prius v, a hybrid that c-max also bests in mpg. say hi to the all-new 47 combined mpg c-max hybrid.

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and talk to unitedhealthcare about our plans, like aarp medicarecomplete. let's get you on the right path. call today. ♪ do you really think brushing is enough to keep it clean? while brushing misses germs in 75% of your mouth, listerine® cleans virtually your entire mouth. so take your oral health to a whole new level. listerine®... power to your mouth™. tonight's "rock center with brian williams "s two american brother whose walked away from million dollar paychecks in the nfl to pursue their faith. part of the report from mary carillo. >> reporter: the brothers rechanneled their perpetual energy and in july observed ramadan with a multistate cross-country teaching tour,

reaching 30 mosques in 30 days. including the one that is perhaps america's most controversial, in lower manhattan, located just north of ground zero. >> it's about two blocks away and it's tucked into a little corn somewhere there's just a small, peaceful place to pray. people in the towers who were muslim. >> reporter: among the nearly 3,000 who died at ground zero 60 were muslims. their names rendered in bronze. american flight 11 passenger was seven months pregnant at the time of her death. the teaching tour during ramadan included stops at food kitchens, meetings with youth groups and emphasis on treating women with equality. >> my wife when we were in denver just became muslim. but the brothers have this 15

course meal and the sisters have one piece of pizza to share. so you know, today they were talking about taking care and taking hold of ramadan and not letting the month pass you by. how can we get to that part if we can't satisfy the basic structures of islam? there are sisters running away from islam because of us. this is upon us. kyrylo joins m. you're a hero of mine. great to have you on the program. >> my pleasure. >> tell me about your connection to these remarkable young men and what they've learned. >> andrea, i really think you're going to like these fellows. 27 and 29. they grew up like so many kids wanting to be nfl stars. play big-time football. yet both in the beginning of this season felt this aching need to do more. they were raised in the muslim

faith from the time they were little boys in southern california. they decided they were going to skip this season, an entire nfl season. andrea, the life of a normal nfl career is only about 3 1/2 years. they were willing to skip this whole season to make their pi pilgrimage to mecca. they are -- i've met a lot of athletes from a lot of different sports. i've never met guys willing to do what they did this season. >> i was fascinated by what they had to say about the role of women in islam. this is really -- we'll all be watching "rock center" continue. mary carillo, thank you so much. don't miss "leap of faith" tonight on "rock center" with brian williams at 10:00/9:00 central on your nbc station. an online sensation. an arizona tourist's photo captured the moment. officer lawrence di primeaux said he saw the man freezing.

the officer says he will keep the receipt in his vest to remind himself sometimes others, indeed, have it worse. wasn't my daughter's black bean soup spectacular?

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which political story will made headlines in the next 24 hours? jonathan capehart joins me now. movie night for house republicans. they're all going to go watch "lincoln." >> yeah. they're going to go see the movie "lincoln" everyone is talking about. they're going with house majority whip kevin mccarthy to a theater to see the movie about the great republican, president of the united states. the other thing that's going to be happening tomorrow that we're going to be talking about is the president's trip to pennsylvania. you thought the campaign was over. the presidential campaign is over. but the president is going to pennsylvania as part of his tour to get the public behind him in pressuring congress to get something done, to get a deal done on the fiscal cliff.

>> it'll be interesting to see whether any of the republicans take any wisdom from the example of thaddeus stevens and his willingness to compromise some of his more radical positions in order to get the 13th amendment passed. >> one can only hope. >> we're going to be watching for you, you're co-hosting "the sick cycle" at 3:00. >> kornacki, get well quick. that does it for us. for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." coming up in our next hour, we have the very latest on the fiscal cliff negotiations including new reaction from speaker boehner and senate majority leader reid after their meetings with secretary geithner on capitol hill today. plus, a live report from the white house on president obama and mitt romney's lunch meeting in the private residence. we are following developing news. former president george h.w. bush has been hospitalized. we'll update you on his condition. plus, we are just now an hour away from an historic u.n.

vote on the palestinian's bid for statehood. israel's vice prime minister joins me live. now we need a little bit more... [ male announcer ] at humana, we understand the value of quality time and personal attention. which is why we are proud to partner with health care professionals who understand the difference that quality time with our members can make... that's a very nice cake! ohh! [ giggles ] [ male announcer ] humana thanks the physicians, nurses, hospitals, pharmacists and other health professionals who helped us achieve the highest average star rating among national medicare companies... and become the first and only national medicare advantage company to achieve a 5-star rating for a medicare plan... your efforts result in the quality of care and service we're able to provide... which means better health outcomes... and more quality time to share with the ones who matter most. i love you, grandma! [ male announcer ] humana.

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